Bromance

Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis as the 1946-1956 ‘rock star’ comedy team Martin and Lewis set a new standard for a complex, multifaceted enactment of a ‘special’ male friendship." Coming post-war, "the comedy of Martin and Lewis teased with a sly alternative to the model of heterosexual affirmation traditionally peddled by Hollywood, as their intense and unstable relationship showcased a panoply of emotional and erotic intensities between men. The cultural resonance of Martin and Lewis's comedy derived from the way it set in motion a more complex ‘queering of gender.’"[21] They starred in 16 films together as an inseparable unit, as well as on early live television and in nightclubs. They had an immeasurable effect on millions of baby boomers and future comedians, (including George Clooney, whose aunt Rosemary Clooney was a guest on their show).

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon were described as "perhaps the pioneering bromance in showbiz history",[22] which led to an off-Broadway play called Matt and Ben.[23] The relationship between Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine, stars of the 2009 Star Trek film, has been described similarly, in common with their on-screen characters' relationship.[24]

The close friendship between George Clooney and Brad Pitt was once suggested to be "George's longest-lasting affair".[25] Clooney's bromantic tendencies served as the basis for an episode of the animated series American Dad! entitled "Tears of a Clooney", in which lead character Stan Smith becomes bromantically involved with Clooney as part of an elaborate revenge plot.

Professional footballers Eric Dier and Dele Alli, who played together for both Tottenham Hotspur and the English national team, have a close relationship that has been described as a bromance.[26]

During the 2016 Olympic 100m finals, the friendship between Jamaican Usain Bolt and Canadian Andre De Grasse emerged, characterized and celebrated on social media as a bromance.[27]

Bodybuilders Arnold Schwarzenegger and Franco Columbu, had a close relationship described by themselves as bromance, since 1965. Arnold and Franco were inseparable friends and training partners since then. They began a bricklaying and patio business called European Brick Works in 1969.[28]

The tight relationship both on- and off-stage between Bruce Springsteen and the late E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons has often been described[29][30][31] as one of the most fitting examples of bromance in Western modern music. This relationship is most notably depicted in Springsteen's song "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out", from Born to Run – in which Springsteen and Clemons appear respectively under their pseudonyms Bad Scooter and Big Man. It was also described in Clemons' autobiography Big Man: Real Life & Tall Tales.[32]

The Japanese and Korean music industry actively encourages bromance among male celebrities (particularly members of boy bands) as part of the fan service to please the audience.[33][34]

While the term has generally been applied to straight relationships, mixed gay-straight relationships without sexual intimacy have also been dubbed "bromances". Examples of well-known gay-straight bromances include George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley from the band Wham!; Ronnie Kroell and Ben DiChiara from the Bravo reality series Make Me a Supermodel, in which the pair was nicknamed "Bronnie";[35] the relationship on Survivor: Gabon between Charlie Herschel and Marcus Lehman;[36] and American Idol's Kris Allen and Adam Lambert, which was given the name "Kradam".[37]

Buddy films have to a degree been rebranded as bromance films, although critics draw a distinction between the two, noting that a buddy film tends to be more explicitly violent and less open about its latent homosexual content.[4][38] The intersection between buddy films and what would come to be called the bromance film was noted comedically at least as early as 1978, when National Lampoon ran a parody ad for the football-themed buddy film Semi-Tough, renamed "Semi-Sweet" and featuring an illustration of stars Burt Reynolds and Kris Kristofferson holding hands.[39]

Prominent examples of bromantic comedy include Judd Apatow's The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005) and Knocked Up (2007), as well as Greg Mottola's Superbad (2007), which targeted non-sexual homosocial behavior and masculinity in inventive ways.[40] Zoolander (2001),[41] Wedding Crashers (2005),[5] Funny People (2009),[42] John Hamburg's I Love You Man (2009),[13] The Hangover (2009),[42] and Horrible Bosses (2011)[42] are other examples.

Although J. R. R. Tolkien's novels predate the "bromance era", the portrayal of the lifelong close relationships between Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee, Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took, and Gimli and Legolas in the novels have been characterized as bromance, as well as the depictions in the films based on them.[43]

The theme remains popular, with different genres looking at the concept in various ways, such as the documentary Best of Enemies – about the 1960s feud between intellectuals Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley.[44]

The cultural concept that bromance connotes particular closeness has been taken up thematically. The concept has been visited in biology,[45][46][47] as well as an experimental acrobatic video dance piece, Bromance, which explores "... the intimacy of physical interaction between guys; of their ‘bromance’."[48]

The relationship between George W. Bush and former press secretary Scott McClellan as told in McClellan's book What Happened was called by one reviewer "the tale of one long, failed bromance".[49]

The former premiers Dalton McGuinty of Ontario (2003–2013) and Jean Charest of Quebec (2003–2012) were described as in a "burgeoning bromance".[50][51] Stephen Harper of Canada (2006–2015) and Tony Abbott of Australia (2013–2015), and their respective countries, were characterized as having a "conservative bromance".[11][52][53] The term has been used to describe Narendra Modi from India and Barack Obama from the United States during the January 2015 visit,[54][55][56] and Vladimir Putin from the Russian Federation with Gerhard Schröder from Germany.[57]

In early 2017, a number of internet memes surfaced which alluded to Obama's relationship with Vice President Joe Biden as a "bromance".[58]

A bromance has been linked with a decrease in "problems such as anxiety, depression, heart disease, and memory and concentration impairment".[59]